Meteor Shower Calendar 2026/2027: All Peaks & Rates

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When is the next meteor shower? Here is your complete meteor shower calendar for 2026 and early 2027 – with every peak, the expected hourly rates and an honest verdict on whether staying up is worth it (because the Moon gets a vote too!). The data is based on the official calendar of the International Meteor Organization (IMO).

⚡ The quick answer: The next big shooting-star night: the Geminids on 13–14 December 2026 (up to 150 meteors/hour, a largely moonless peak – the strongest shower of the year). Before that, the Orionids on 21–22 October 2026 are worth an early alarm: around 20 meteors/hour in the moonless pre-dawn hours.

Meteor shower calendar 2026/2027

Meteor showerPeakRate (ZHR)*Conditions
Perseids12–13 August 2026up to 100⭐⭐⭐ Ideal – new moon on 12 August, the whole night fully dark
Orionids21–22 October 2026approx. 20⭐⭐ Good – the waxing Moon sets early, leaving dark pre-dawn hours
Leonids17–18 November 2026approx. 15⭐⭐ Decent – only a thin waxing crescent
Geminids13–14 December 2026up to 150⭐⭐⭐ Top – strongest shower of the year, peak largely moonless
Ursids22–23 December 2026approx. 10⭐ Weak – a nearly full Moon (96%) badly interferes
Quadrantids3–4 January 2027up to 80⭐⭐⭐ Good – only a thin waning crescent before dawn
Lyrids22–23 April 2027approx. 18⭐ Weak – the full Moon on 21 Apr brightens the sky
Eta Aquariids6 May 2027up to 50⭐⭐ Early birds only – the radiant rises near dawn

*ZHR = theoretical hourly rate under a perfect sky with the radiant at the zenith. In practice you will see roughly one third to one half of that, depending on your location.

How to watch meteors the right way

  • No telescope! Meteors are best seen with the naked eye – a wide field of view is everything.
  • A dark site: the less light pollution, the more meteors. Even 30 minutes out of town can double your count.
  • Let your eyes adapt: 20–30 minutes without phone light – only then will you catch the faint meteors too.
  • Lie back in comfort: a lounger or camping mat, gaze about 45 degrees above the horizon, roughly toward the radiant.
  • Favour the second half of the night: after midnight your side of Earth turns “head-on” into the particle stream – the rates climb noticeably.

🌠 Useful gear for a meteor night

For the meteors themselves you need no equipment at all – quite the opposite: any binoculars or telescope narrows your field of view and makes you miss meteors.

The two items below still help, because they solve exactly what actually bothers you on a meteor night: the orientation and the waiting.

Oculum swivelling sky map 29 cm

For finding your way around the sky: the swivelling sky map at € 19.90 – it shows where the radiant is at any hour. No battery, no glaring screen (labels are in German, the constellation patterns are universal).

Omegon Brightsky 10x50 binoculars

For the waiting between meteors: the Celestron Nature DX ED 10x50 BinocularsOmegon Brightsky 10x50 Binoculars at $269.95€ 289 – bright and wide-field, perfect for sweeping the Milky Way during the lulls. At new moon that is the real bonus of the night.

Not buying anything tonight? That is the right call – you need none of this for a meteor night. Which binoculars actually earn their keep under the stars is in our astronomy binoculars guide; and if the rest of the sky interests you after that night outside, start with the beginner telescope guide.

* Affiliate link: if you buy through this link we may earn a small commission from Astroshop or High Point Scientific, at no extra cost to you.

The highlights in detail

Perseids – the summer shower (mid-August)

In 2026 the Perseid peak fell exactly on the new moon: the best conditions you can get. The next peak is the night of 12–13 August 2027, when a Moon lit to 83 % interferes until roughly 1:30 a.m. – the hours after that stay excellent. The full observing plan is in our Perseids guide.

Geminids – the strongest shower of the year (13–14 December 2026)

Up to 150 meteors per hour, many of them bright and slow – the Geminids are the most reliable meteor shower of all. In 2026 the Moon barely interferes at the peak. The only catch: December cold. A thermos, thermal base layers and a thick blanket belong in your basic kit.

The Geminids fall right in the middle of gift season. Whoever is lying next to you and starts asking questions after the tenth meteor is the classic case for a first instrument of their own – our astronomy gift ideas are sorted by budget.

The good nights of the year are quickly counted, and the best ones depend on where the Moon is. We will let you know beforehand:

We will remind you before the next sky event

One short email, in good time – with the times and an honest take on whether it is worth getting up for.

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Shooting stars need no equipment at all. The rest of the sky does.
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Frequently asked questions

When is the next meteor shower visible?

Stray meteors appear on any clear night – five to ten an hour, even with no shower active. Every peak is in the table above; the two richest nights of any year are the Perseids in mid-August and the Geminids in mid-December.

Where should I look to see shooting stars?

Meteors can flare anywhere in the sky – they only appear to come from the radiant (the constellation the shower is named after). Your best bet is to watch the darkest patch of sky at about 45 degrees altitude.

What is the strongest meteor shower of the year?

The Geminids in December, with up to 150 meteors per hour – ahead of the more famous Perseids (up to 100).

Where do shooting stars come from?

They are dust particles shed by comets (for the Geminids: by the asteroid Phaethon) that slam into Earth’s atmosphere at 30–70 km/s and burn up.